Special Opportunities

Professional Development

In response to requests from graduate students, the department reconstituted its Preparing Future Faculty Program, during the summer sessions of 2010. Our aim in this program is to provide as much support as possible to all graduate students as they prepare for a professional career in which teaching will play a prominent role. Students who register for the program’s course number, Y550, will have their participation in the program listed officially on their transcript, and all students who take part will receive certification from the program as part of their placement file. We have found, in our earlier experience with this program, that it enhanced our students’ job prospects, especially because very few other R1 departments provide teacher training as part of their doctoral programs. Read More »

The Center on American Politics

The Center on American Politics supports a wide range of activities associated with American politics including providing funding for research conferences and sponsoring outside speakers. The Center also funds travel expenses so that graduate students can present their research at academic conferences such as the Midwest Political Science Association and the American Political Science Association. Finally, the Center provides summer funding for graduate students to do independent research and take courses here and at other universities.

The Ostrom Workshop

The mission of The Ostrom Workshop is to promote the interdisciplinary study of institutions, incentives, and behavior as they relate to policy-relevant applications. The term ‘workshop’ represents the conviction that the skills for this research are best acquired and used in a setting where students, working as apprentices and journeymen, have the opportunity to collaborate with experienced scholars. The central themes of its research include self-governance and democratic reform, as well as collective action in the context of sustainable natural resources. For this research Elinor Ostrom was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.